GIRLS' VOLLEYBALL: Waynesboro falls to Gettysburg in four sets

Gettysburg took one more step toward a Mid-Penn Capital Division championship on Monday.

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By Lee Goodwin

Waynesboro Record Herald - Waynesboro, PA

By Lee Goodwin

Posted Oct. 8, 2013 at 12:00 PM

By Lee Goodwin

Posted Oct. 8, 2013 at 12:00 PM

WAYNESBORO — Gettysburg took one more step toward a Mid-Penn Capital Division championship on Monday.

The Warriors remained perfect this season after notching a four-set victory against Waynesboro in a division match. Gettysburg won 25-22, 25-17, 21-25, 25-14, improving its record to 13-0 overall and 11-0 in the division with five matches remaining.

Gettysburg holds a 1 1/2-match lead over the Polar Bears (13-2, 10-2 MPC).

Waynesboro (11-4, 8-3 MPC) has to forget about it pretty quickly as the Maidens have to get on the bus later today and make the trip to Dillsburg to face Northern — a team Waynesboro beat in four sets at home earlier in the season.

“The opportunity was there but we couldn’t get it done,” said Waynesboro coach Kim Saunders, whose team saw its eight-match win streak snapped last night. “We never got on our game with our tempo. Passing struggled early and that prohibited us from running our middles effectively.”

The match had a college atmosphere to it, with a large contingent of enthusiastic, vocal students from both schools in attendance. The match also was a Dig Pink event in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Gettysburg coach Travis Meckley credits his eight seniors for their leadership in putting together a memorable season so far. The Warriors played without one of their best players, senior outside hitter Erika Green.

“They’ve been playing together a long time,” Meckley said. “We got a great effort from Maddie Weikert. She’s one of our big hitters.

“It was a great match. It’s great for the girls. It gives me a heart attack.”

Gettysburg outlasted Waynesboro in five sets in the first meeting between the two teams in Gettysburg.

But after winning the first two sets, including a dramatic 25-22 win in the first set, it looked as though the Warriors might leave town with a clean sweep — until the third set.

“In the third game we let down our energy,” Meckley said. “We were trying to work on position for our block setup. (Waynesboro) was doing a good job getting their hitters in the game.”

Waynesboro’s Big Three — Hannah Kauffman Zoe Harris and Rachel Eyler — got into a nice rhythm that was made possible by a much more fluid effort from defensive digs to setup passes by Megan Biesecker (41 assists).

All three hitters finished with double-digit kills, led by Kauffman with 15. Eyler had 14 kills and Harris followed with 13 kills and four blocks.

Waynesboro won the junior varsity match 25-22, 18-25, 15-8.

Ciara Rosenberger had nine kills and 16 digs. Hailey Stum contributed with six kills, while Olivia Gardenhour had 16 digs and Kaylie Yarnell had 10 assists.